MISSION, S.D. - A 19-year-old Parmelee man has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for shooting and injuring another man near Mission. Leonard Little Thunder III, also known as Yamni Little Thunder, pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon in connection to the Nov. 2023 incident on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation.

According to court documents, the victim was outside his home with several family members on Nov. 29 when Little Thunder drove past the house multiple times before stopping. He then pulled out a short-barreled shotgun and fired, striking the victim in the head. Little Thunder fled the scene but was arrested shortly after at a house south of Mission. Authorities seized the shotgun, which has been forfeited to the United States.

Little Thunder was indicted by a federal grand jury in Feb. 2024 and pleaded guilty in Feb. 2025.